Izakaya Den's move to new home next to Sushi Den set for May

It was one of the biggest deals of 2012: Thirteen months ago, Toshi Kizaki announced that he and his brother had entered into a deal with BW Holdings, the company that controls the Wynkoop/Breckenridge group of breweries and restaurants, agreeing to swap Izakaya Den's current location -- a stand-alone building at 1518 South Pearl Street -- for BW Holding's building at 1477 South Pearl, where the Pearl Street Grill had closed that New Year's Eve.

But since then, plenty of both money and effort have been poured into building a new home for Izakaya Den right by Sushi Den. Initially, the target date for the completion of that project was late 2012. But now there's a much more solid date: late May.

The new restaurant will be a spacious, two-story spot with seating for 210 and a patio. While the work is being completed -- and construction is moving quickly now, in a partnership with Roth Sheppard Architects and Jordy Construction -- Toshi Kizaki is also reworking the menu for the new Izakaya, which will retain much of the current lineup but expand the emphasis on "izakaya"-style small plates.

Sushi Den will operate without interruption through Izakaya's move, even as a few changes are made to its kitchen. (Izakaya Den will have a completely separate kitchen, although there will be some shared storage space below.) And Izakaya will continue serving in its current home until shortly before the switch -- and then the Wynkoop/Breckenridge group will start converting the 1518 South Pearl location into its next concept.

Watch Cafe Society for more updates on the action on South Pearl Street.

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Patricia Calhoun co-founded Westword in 1977; she’s been the editor ever since. She’s a regular on the weekly CPT12 roundtable Colorado Inside Out, played a real journalist in John Sayles’s Silver City, once interviewed President Bill Clinton while wearing flip-flops, and has been honored with numerous national awards for her columns and feature-writing.